What happens when a 25-year career at CNN ends — and a new life begins?

In this episode of Divergent States, we talk with Cesar Marin, former CNN producer and founder of Microdosing Over 50, about how psychedelics helped him navigate midlife, identity loss, and personal reinvention.

Cesar shares his journey from broadcast media to becoming an advocate for intentional microdosing later in life. We explore the difference between microdosing for healing vs optimization, how intention shapes outcomes, and why people over 50 face unique integration challenges.

We also discuss:
• Microdosing psilocybin vs LSD
• Career loss and psychedelic-driven reinvention
• Presence, connection, and integration practices
• How media shapes psychedelic narratives
• Why midlife may be the most powerful time for change
• Healing vs performance framing in psychedelic use
• Stigma, legality, and education
• Building a mission-driven life after burnout

This conversation is about more than substances — it’s about agency, curiosity, and what happens when you stop outsourcing your meaning.

🎧 Extended version available on Patreon
🎓 Zendo Project peer-support training: use code DIVERGENTS10
🧠 For listeners interested in microdosing, midlife transitions, and psychedelic culture

https://cultivatingwisdom.net/

⏱️ Chapter Markers

00:00 – Introduction & Cesar’s background
01:45 – 25 years at CNN and getting laid off
04:30 – Discovering psychedelics at 55
06:40 – Cultivating Wisdom & microdosing over 50
10:15 – Loss, grief, and mission-driven work
13:10 – What shifted personally
17:45 – Early doubts and first psychedelic experience
22:23 – Fun vs healing: why people stay
22:41 – How media shaped his psychedelic voice
26:13 – Bad headlines and stigma
28:26 – Why storytelling matters
29:18 – Midlife fear and reinvention
32:12 – “It’s not almost over — it’s just starting”
33:18 – Integration for older adults
37:55 – Meditation, presence, and connection
39:13 – Healing vs optimization
43:45 – Microdosing LSD vs psilocybin
46:36 – Psychedelic commercialization
47:47 – Public episode wrap-up
48:31 – Post-interview reflections
50:05 – Bryan’s takeaway
52:11 – Healing vs optimization framing
54:17 – Outro & Patreon plug

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Download the app or text/call 62-FIRESIDE

Support the show

Special Thanks to our Macrodosers, Super D and Mike on Patreon!

https://linktr.ee/3L1T3Mod

What really happens when psychedelics change someone, and why do some people come back grounded while others spiral into ego, conspiracy, or spiritual bypassing?

In this long-form conversation, comedian and science-minded psychonaut Shane Mauss joins Divergent States for a deep dive into what psychedelics do to the human mind beneath the mystical language. Drawing on neuroscience, cognitive bias, evolutionary psychology, and lived psychedelic experience, Shane explains how substances like LSD, mushrooms, and DMT increase mental plasticity, loosen rigid categories, and open the brain to new ways of thinking — for better and for worse.

Together, we explore why altered states can lead to creativity, healing, and insight, but also why they can just as easily fuel delusion, conspiracy thinking, and inflated ego. We talk about the placebo effect, Dunning-Kruger, belief formation, and how access to infinite information can make people feel like they know everything while understanding very little. Shane also shares candid stories from inside the psychedelic comedy world, including how Tales From the Trip was secretly launched at Comedy Central, why he’s uneasy about the current psychedelic “gold rush,” and how mainstream acceptance has changed the culture.

This episode isn’t about chasing cosmic secrets or mystical narratives. It’s about how the mind actually works — and how psychedelics can either help us become more open, curious, and flexible, or lock us deeper into fantasy if we don’t know how to think critically about what we experience.

If you care about psychedelics, consciousness, and staying grounded in reality while exploring extraordinary states, this conversation is for you.

Shane's new special comes out 2/18 on ShaneMauss.com!

Special thanks to Drip who did the music, check him out on Spotify and Soundcloud!

00:00 — Season 2 Opening
04:18 — From Stand-Up to Science
07:40 — Creating Psychedelic Theater
11:40 — Why Psychedelic Comedy Was Taboo
14:50 — Tales From the Trip Origin Story
19:20 — Why He Doesn’t Feel Like a Regular Comic
23:40 — Comedy as Tension and Truth
34:00 — George Carlin and Big-Idea Comedy
38:20 — Psychedelics Going Mainstream
41:00 — Skeptical Psychonauts
45:20 — Seeing the Dark Side of the Scene
47:45 — Psychedelics, Categorization, and the Brain
51:30 — The Crunchy-to-Conservative Pipeline
54:00 — Dunning-Kruger and Illusions of Knowledge
57:10 — Why Science Is Counterintuitive
01:02:40 — Why These Conversations Matter

Send us a text

FiresideProject.org

Download the app or text/call 62-FIRESIDE

Support the show

Special Thanks to our Macrodosers, Super D and Mike on Patreon!

https://linktr.ee/3L1T3Mod

Season Two of Divergent States is about something simple and surprisingly rare: exploring altered states without losing touch with reality.

In this preview episode, 3L1T3 and Bryan share two short moments from upcoming conversations that define the tone of the season ahead.

In the first, Shane Mauss reflects on how psychedelics open people to awe—but also to certainty, conspiracies, and belief systems that can replace reality if no one pushes back. In the second, Cesar Marin explains why presence and human connection are the real work of integration, not endless chasing of peak experiences.

Together, these moments capture what Divergent States has always tried to do: hold space for wonder without drifting into delusion, depth without losing grounding, and exploration rooted in real human connection.

Patreon supporters get extended versions of these conversations, including sections that don’t survive algorithm-friendly edits. But this preview is here for everyone—because harm reduction, presence, and honest conversation shouldn’t be paywalled.

Welcome to Season Two.

Chapters

00:00 – Welcome back & season context
Introducing Season Two and why this year matters.

00:28 – What Divergent States actually is
What the show is: harm reduction, not hype or spiritual theater.

01:05 – Shane Mauss: Awe, science, and belief systems
The “ghost crocodile” and microscope analogy.

04:49 – Why psychedelics create both insight and delusion
Reflections on pattern-seeking and certainty in psychedelic spaces.

05:20 – Cesar Marin: Presence as integration
Connection, mushrooms, and staying grounded in real life.

07:17 – The power of daily human connection
Kids, texts, meditation, and showing up.

08:55 – What Divergent States is really about
Awe without delusion; depth without losing touch.

09:15 – Patreon & how to support the show
Extended cuts, deeper conversations, and why it matters.

10:10 – Harm reduction & Zendo Project
Why we partner with them and what the code supports.

10:50 – Closing & Season Two welcome
Personal sign-off and transition into the new season.

Send us a text

FiresideProject.org

Download the app or text/call 62-FIRESIDE

Support the show

Special Thanks to our Macrodosers, Super D and Mike on Patreon!

https://linktr.ee/3L1T3Mod